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Buffalo man given lengthy sentence

A Buffalo man who has been arrested 64 times has been sentenced to 20 years to life in state prison as a persistent violent felony offender, Erie County District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III reported Thursday.

In his latest brush with the law, Jessie Medley, 51, of Walden Avenue, was convicted of first-degree robbery and third-degree possession of a weapon after a week-long jury trial before Senior County Court Judge Michael D’Amico.

Medley was found guilty of robbing a woman at knifepoint last June 25 behind the Lafayette Hotel in downtown Buffalo. Prosecutors said he ransacked her purse and took some personal belongings, including a ring given to her by her son.

Sedita noted that Medley has been convicted 54 times, three times for armed robbery, in a string of arrests dating back to the 1970s.

At sentencing, Medley asked D’Amico to waive the mandatory surcharges, declaring, “I spent most of the last 35 years in prison. I have lost everything.” The judge denied his request, adding, “You will have a long time to pay those off.”